Big Think

Small Power

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Books
Strategy

We revere big hits and big ideas (this is Big Think, after all). Along come Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval with "The Power of Small," a new book excerpted in Change This as The Small Revolution. Do not confuse this with E.F. Schumacher's classic "Small Is Beautiful." That was about people-focused economics. This book is about how small steps can mean big changes in a business or individual, or how small ideas can turn into big dollars. To that end, they feature on page 8 of their essay a couple of examples of little things that yielded big rewards. One, the story of the person who decorated her children's Crocs and wound up selling her company to Crocs itself, is really about happenstance - she happened to live near Crocs headquarters. A second one was better:

Million dollar ideas are everywhere. In fact, one just might be licking you in the face. At least that’s what happened to 52-year-old divorcee Carol Gardner. Broke, unemployed, and alone, Gardner entered her local pet store’s annual Christmas card contest in hopes of snagging the grand prize: a year’s supply of dog food. With this humble goal in mind, Gardner set forth on the photo shoot that would change her life. She plopped her 4-month-old English bulldog in the tub, fashioned a fluffy white beard out of bubble bath around her face, and pressed a button. After writing a cheeky caption, Gardner sent her entry off to the pet store, and to her surprise, she won. The card became a hit with all of her friends and family. Suddenly, the light bulb went on: she could create a greeting card business based on Zelda, her mutt of a muse. And so, Zelda Wisdom was born and shortly thereafter, Hallmark came calling, helping to turn her SMALL idea into an international line of greeting cards, gifts, clothing, jewelry, and even books.

Would this idea work in today's economy, with small consumer spending and capital? It's hard to say. The authors stress how small makes sense in this economy. And in theory, it does. What it means in practice may blunt the power of their book. What do you think, BNET?

posted by Michael Fitzgerald
May 6, 2009 @ 6:29 pm

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